


Bang

by I_want_to_linger_a_little_longer



Series: Some Sunny Adventures [1]
Category: Transformers: Prime
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:00:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27228484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_want_to_linger_a_little_longer/pseuds/I_want_to_linger_a_little_longer
Summary: Hello hello!I have appreciated the writer's community for a long while, and finally mustered myself to add to it!Let's start off with a Bang, shall we?Get ready to meet someone new!
Series: Some Sunny Adventures [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1987930
Comments: 5
Kudos: 13





	1. It Begins

**Author's Note:**

> Hello hello!  
> I have appreciated the writer's community for a long while, and finally mustered myself to add to it!
> 
> Let's start off with a Bang, shall we?  
> Get ready to meet someone new!

_ What.  _

_...What happened?  _

I felt like I was falling. 

_ nonono Where am I? _

All I remembered was a loud sound, a lot of pain, and. And?

_ Oh gods, am I dead? _

_... _

I regained consciousness. I hadn’t even noticed I had lost it, but here it was anyway. Bleh.

I blinked my eyes open. Or tried to, anyway. There was no feeling of my eyelids opening. Or my having eyes at all. I got a good view of my surroundings nevertheless. 

I was in… A warehouse? I seemed to be suspended (Why am I suspended? Can I  _ not _ be suspended? please?) vertically, despite not feeling gravity’s pull.  _ Am I drugged? Is that why I can’t feel anything? _ I was kinda freaking out.  _ If I was on drugs, I’d be mentally impared, right? I don’t feel mentally impared. Would I be able to tell?  _ I tried to move my arms.

With a deafening  **grinding** and  **screeching** of metal, I fell to the ground.  _ Okay I can feel things now, how do I uninstall? _ I looked up at a gaping hole in a massive, slightly futuristic-looking computer, and part of a neighboring crate.  _ Ooh, I hope that wasn’t me. _

Propping myself up, I took a proper look around the vicinity. I was indeed in what looked like a warehouse, but there was tech everywhere. The crate contained what looked like carefully packed bits of laser guns and various other unidentifiable gadgets. Quite a bit less unidentifiable gadgets now that whatever happened had happened. All that was left of the computer was part of the screen and both speakers, one of which was hanging on only by it’s wires. It was swinging gently… and sparking not-so-gently. I couldn’t see where I had been suspended from. There was a work table by the near wall, covered in tools, wiring, and… was that a pickle? Someone had forgotten their lunch. 

I heaved myself to my feet, then almost fell over, startled by a loud, metallic  **scraping** . I spun around, convinced whatever had caused the continuing sound had also caused the enormous, obviously fresh hole. There was nothing there. It was silent. I was alone. Also, really,  _ really _ creeped out.

I took a final look around, and started to head for the nearest exit, as sticking around in horror movie settings is a really dumb thing to do. I took a step.  **_Clank_ ** _. _ Wait what. For the first time since waking up, I examined myself.  _ What in the _ world _?  _ My leg was metal. It wasn’t even well constructed metal. It was just a bunch of metal roughly shaped like a leg. I bent my knee. With a scrape, it complied. I immediately overbalanced, and took a few steps back.  **_Clank clank clank._ ** _ Both  _ of my legs were made up of scraps. So were my arms, and torso.  _ I  _ had been the source of the scraping noise. In a panic, I raised my hands to my face. They scraped over smooth metal. Smooth, featureless metal.  _ I had no face _ . Oh gods I had no face. I stood there for what felt like half an hour, processing this. I was made entirely (and  _ really _ badly) out of metal.  _ How does that even work?  _

I remembered where I was. Creepy, recently-abandoned tech warehouse. Right. Leaving now. Don’t want to stick around and see if whoever worked here had done this to me. That probably wouldn’t end well. I don’t know if I can even defend myself as a  _ walking scrap pile _ . Conclusion: avoid for now. Y’know. Like a large, angry, venomous snake.

Scraping my way over to the door, I peeked outside. Large shipping containers blocked my line of sight. It was nighttime. I couldn’t see any floodlights or flashlight beams. I eased my way outside, trying and failing to muffle the sound of my movement. Ugh. If anyone comes within a dozen yards, they won’t have to spot me, they could just listen to me fail to be stealthy.

I turned another corner with a sigh. Forget corn mazes, do shipping containers. Noone can see over them to find the exit. An instant later, I froze.  _ ThereArePeopleComing hide Hide HIDE-  _ I flattened myself pathetically against a crate.  _ Please go away, please gO AWAY. _ No such luck, they turned into my isle. I stayed perfectly still. They didn’t speak as they walked. I guessed that they were doing patrol. They had on bodysuits and ...vests? And they were carrying these huge guns. And,  _ oh no _ , their masks included what looked like night vision goggles. Or at least I was pretty sure they were some sort of night vision, as there is no other logical reason someone would wear dark goggles at night. I tried to hold my breath. And… they walked right on by? What? Did. did they really overlook me? 

I watched them disappear around the corner. I waited a few more seconds, and then pried myself off the wall of the shipping container I had been plastered to, with yet another  **screech** of metal. That was scarily,  _ ridiculously _ close. 

  
  


Fortunately, I found the edge of the compound. Unfortunately, it was surrounded by a tall, impassible-looking fence. I regarded it tiredly. Should I try to climb it, or go find a gate? I would much rather go find the gate, but the guys that walked past me had been carrying enormous firepower and I was a fairly obvious, and probably sorta scary-looking, target. I leaned over to get a good look at what were supposed to be my feet. They didn’t look small enough to fit in the chain-link. Or narrow enough. Well, that idea didn’t work out, ( _good._ ) maybe I could go try to find a hole or something to crawl through?

I looked both ways. I didn’t see any holes, and didn’t really have the patience (or bravery) to go find one after the maze of shipping containers. I’d try to make one. I crouched down next to the fence and started scraping at the ground. It made less noise than my walking did. I tugged at the bottom edge to see how deep I’d have to make the hole and… huh. I’m pretty sure that’s not supposed to happen. With some effort, I bent the fence upwards enough to squeeze underneath. Once on the other side, I did my best to smooth out the links in the fence I had horribly mutilated. I scuffed at the finger marks in the soil to erase them. Hopefully no one would notice? I felt pretty bad about damaging the fence.  _ Stop it, it doesn’t matter, I’m leaving.  _ I started walking.

  
  


I would be the first to admit that I’m not particularly fit. After an hour of walking  _ now _ , however, I wasn’t even slightly winded. As this occurred to me, I..  _ Wait.. I’m. not breathing?  _ How does that even work? How does  _ any  _ of this work? At that, I stopped and sat down violently. Then, because I was fairly sure the immediate danger had passed, I had myself the beginnings of a good proper breakdown.

“ _ AAAAAAAAaaaaaggghhhhhhh! What in the name of goodness is this sITUATION?! Where am I?! Why is this happening? How- uuuAAAAAAAA?! _ ” 

Something moved silently in my peripheral vision, interrupting me. I whirled with a deafening  **scrape** , falling to the side. A raccoon high-tailed it out of sight as I watched. 

“ _ I. I just. I want to go home. _ ” I felt like crying. I should… probably continue walking now.

As I lifted myself out of a sitting position, I noticed suddenly that glowing blue liquid was seeping out of the cracks in my body. I jumped to standing, a shower of droplets coating where I had been sitting. I stared, shaking off one arm. A couple of small pieces of metal dislodged and fell off. “ _ Oh, nonononono, am I self-destructing? Am I going to fall apart? I-I don’t want to die-” _

I didn’t want to think, I didn’t want to analyze, so… I ran.


	2. Enter: More Chaos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunny meets *some* Autobots.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized after I posted chapter one, that I hadn't put any transformers in.  
> It's under the Transformers tag  
> Sorry 'bout that

I didn’t stop running until I spotted a building up ahead. Slowing to a stop, I reflexively mimicked the movement of gasping for breath. _I’mNotBreathing_ _-Stop thinking about it! Stop!_ I brought my hands to my face and just... stayed like that for a moment, letting the panic ebb away.

Dropping my hands, I took in the house. It was small, with two floors, a chimney, and a couple of sheds. Clotheslines laden with bedding and clothing were strung across the yard. No one was around. I hesitated, and, feeling guilty, walked up to one of the sheets. I needed to stop sounding like a metal Frankenstein’s monster every time I moved, but… these belonged to people. Shaking myself a little, I steered myself away from another panic attack. I am going to need some serious therapy. 

I took the corner of the sheet, and paused, thinking about how to wedge the cloth into a joint. Finding an opening, I stuffed the corner into my wrist. With startling speed, the sheet ripped itself off the line and disappeared like slurped spaghetti. Scraps exploded off my arm, and I overbalanced in surprise. I lay there, among my arm bits, for a moment, processing. _What in- you know what? Nevermind. Just- save it for later. Nuts._

Pushing myself back upright revealed I still had an arm. More impressively, it was in better shape than it was previously. The fabric, and whatever bits were left from before, actually looked like an arm. I bent it and wiggled my fingers; everything complied smoothly and, above all, silently. I looked around at the rest of the sheets. I am going to feel so freaking guilty about this later.

Four sheets and a set of clothes later, I sat cross-legged behind a shed. I felt… so much lighter. Unsurprising, given that metal generally weighs a lot more than cloth. I ran my fingers across my faceplate. It was still as unsettlingly featureless as a mask. I felt a lot more like myself nevertheless. My new cloth parts had something similar to a normal sense of touch, instead of the stiff numbness I hadn’t known I was dealing with until now. I mimicked a sigh. I still didn’t know what to do next. Or what was happening. I swept my hand up over the top of my head and- _what were those?_ I ran my fingers over them, carefully. I had little horns. Because of course I did. I heaved another full-body sigh and leaned back against the shed, apathy beginning to tug at the edges of my mind in self-defence. I shook it off, feeling… for lack of a better word, tired. But, I couldn’t rest here.

I heaved myself up, and started walking... again. I wasn’t sure where I was heading, but it seemed like a good idea to keep moving. Harder to find that way, I guess. I wound my fingers into the hem of my ‘new’ shirt, anxious. It was starting to grate on me, the unknown factors. How my entire life, or existence thereof, was suddenly an uncertainty. I kicked at some desert scrub, the house far out of sight behind me. _I’m also probably in the middle of nowhere_ . I put a palm on the metal plate that was my chest, and ran the other one over my horns again. I was utterly drained. I staggered suddenly and fell to my knees. _Utterly drained_. I dropped forward and passed out face down, suddenly very glad I didn’t need to breathe.

  
  


It wasn’t really like sleeping. I was foggily aware of what was around me, and didn’t dream. It was more like hardcore zoning out, my thoughts fast but unintelligible. I came back to reality slowly. It was dusk. This was quite a feat given that it had been dawn just before. Or was it just really that cloudy? I rolled onto my back, nonplussed. “ _Whyyy…”_ I whined, sitting up unenthusiastically. Nothing and no one answered m- I heard a distant shout. I spun, standing. Should I go see what was happening? _I don’t want anyone to see me But someone might need help But I don’t know anything that’s happening But I don’t really have a plan anyway_ _But-_ _Yknow what Im going._ I jogged in the direction of the shout. I didn’t see anyone or anywhere they could be.

After about six minutes of running where the sounds were coming from, I nearly fell off a cliff (and definitely Did Not scream). Stumbling to a halt at the edge of the ravine, I was stunned into stillness. 

Because 

at the bottom were Autobots.

I gawked at the scene in front of me, utterly flabbergasted. Ratchet and Optimus Prime themselves… fighting an army of shuffling, purple-tinted, grey- _I’ve seen this episode._ I turned to the right. And there was the leader of the Decepticons himself. Watching the ‘bots fight his hoard of revenants. _Haha… I’m- this is great, terrible, I’m prolly gonna die. Crumbs ‘n dust, Ha._ It suddenly occurred to me that I probably shouldn’t be standing in such an exposed spot. I side-stepped until I was behind a rock. _Should I help? I’m tiny whatcanIdo-_ The revenants briefly overtook Optimus and Ratchet, as I remembered happening. Optimus busted out of the dogpile- botpile?- and took out the ones beating at Ratchet, only. He’s not- _Ratchet’s down. He’s not supposed to be down thats not sposed to happen nono no! I’ve gotta help I feel sick the plot-_ Optimus cleared the area with precision, anger- no, fury- written on what features were visible. He worked his way towards Megatron after ensuring no other revenants were left standing. I slid uncontrollably (not shrieking) down the side of the ravine a distance behind them and _legged it_.

I skidded to a halt at Ratchet’s head? helm? and took a moment to analyze- _ForgetItHe’sLeaking A LOT IGottaDoSomething-_ I put pressure on his wound _but that’s a human measure what is Cybertronian first aid?!_ I tugged a wad of fabric out of my abdomen in panic, attempted to plug the wound- And the world ceased.

  
  


I blinked. This startled me due to the fact that, two seconds ago, I did not have eyes. Sitting up and- _Everything is smaller. Those are not my hands. This iS RATCHET’S BODY OHHH NUTS thisIsGonnaBeDifficultAMess-_ I’m not me. I raised Ratchet’s hand to his neck- _that’s a lot of blood,no,Energon, it’s energon and energon is flammable Not compatible with humans He’s missing a LOT I’m? missing a lot not great._ Distantly, I could hear Megatron mocking Optimus. Optimus seems a lot more enraged than ‘usual’, which is understandable. The taunting is a line longer than ‘usual’. _I need to stop calling it ‘usual’ none of this is usual._ Bands of cloth covered Ratchet’s wounds, presumably courtesy of me. I put Ratchet’s head in his hands, blocking out the surrounding carnage, and waited for whenever Optimus comes back. I could hear engines taking off, so presumably soon. _Is this some kind of lucid dream? Probably not. Hurts wayyy too much._ Which meant… this was real. And I’d have to deal with it. Hopefully Ratchet is okay? Please let Ratchet be okay.

Large footsteps crunched nearby. I looked up and announced the situation.

“Ratchet is badly injured” 

My voice came out as Ratchet’s, barring my vocal inflections. This doesn’t really alarm me. I think I’m in shock. Optimus seems utterly baffled and concerned, likely because ‘Ratchet’ is talking in third person, and damaged, and I could sympathise, and I’m drifting a little, that’s not good.

“Old friend-”

“I’m sorry Optimus, you aren’t talking to Ratchet right now- but- he’s hurt- he needs help,”

I pushed his body to his feet, hissing from the pain. Some of my cloth was already soaked. Optimus took a step forward and caught me.

“I’m-I’m sorry- I don’t think there’s time to explain, he’s in bad shape, I don’t know how to help-”

I made a face of distress, looking at the enormous puddle of _(flammablepoisonous)_ energon where I just was. I hoped there weren’t any sparks anywhere. Sparks. Ratchet’s Spark! If this is his body and he’s still alive, his Spark should be in here with me! I went slightly limp, desperately turning my attention inward, ignoring the fact I knew how to do so at all. And- _He’s still AliveInhere thankgoodness-_ this body really is in bad shape- good grief- I opened my eyes again and looked up into Optimus’s worried face. Ah. That was probably really alarming. 

“I think his arm is broken,” I reported, then glanced at the puddle again, “Also, he’s missing a lot more energon than I think is healthy,” 

Optimus quickly opened a ground bridge, and half dragged, half walked me through. I settled myself anxiously on the Autobot-sized medical berth. I didn’t say anything to Optimus as he worked, glancing at the other ‘bots and the (soon-to-be) resident humans. He caught my eye and gave me a firm look. I made a small gesture of surrender, understanding. I definitely wasn’t going to hurt them, but it’s not like he could know that. Probably the only reason I was in the base was due to the urgency of Ratchet’s wounds. He leaned in to speak to me quietly.

“There is not enough energon in his system to allow him to function, much less approach consciousness. How are you..?” He trailed off.

“I honestly have no idea. But I did check, he’s alive,” I answered in a similar low tone, trying to assure him. He seemed to relax marginally.

“Let me patch you up,” He brought a tool near one of the cloth-covered wounds and hesitated. Without thinking about it, I removed the cloth, letting it slip away between the seams in Ratchet’s armor. The wounds began seeping sluggishly. Optimus, to his credit, got to work immediately. Once all the holes were plugged, he handed me a device filled with energon. I looked at it, then at him. 

“You realize I have no clue how to use this?” I whispered awkwardly, glad none of the others were close enough to hear. He took it back, and did it himself, replacing a large portion of Ratchet’s lost energon. I felt something stir. I looked inward again for a moment. Ratchet was waking up.

“Optimus. He’s going to wake up,”

“Then I must thank you for your aid,”

“Optimus” I whispered urgently, feeling my anxiety rise. “I don’t know how to leave,” He seemed taken aback. “I’m- this isn’t-” I could feel myself being pushed aside. With my last second, I quietly said, “I’m Sunny.” Then I was gone.

  
  


Ratchet rocked back into the wall. Opening his optics, he saw Optimus looking at him worriedly. 

“Optimus? What happened? Did we defeat Megatron?” Some of the worry drained out of his face.

“Glad to have you back, old friend.” 

Ratchet didn’t like how much worry remained.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still learning the ropes!
> 
> Realized I hadn't actually said what my character's name was until the end!  
> Hopefully it seemed dramatic, and on purpose!


	3. It's Sunny in the Autobot base.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got overexcited, and now have several chapters lined up.  
> I'll be posting them somewhere around every 24 hours.
> 
> Enjoy!

The nothingness stopped. I was vaguely aware of my surroundings- oop. I’m still in Ratchet’s body. Ratchet’s surroundings. I forced myself more into awareness. He was working on something on teletram 1. I could sense the kids weren’t around. Ah, he was looking at the space bridge blueprints Miko retrieved.  _ I hope I didn’t interfere with anyth-  _ Ratchet flinched and spun around with a yelp. 

“Who’s there?!” 

I mentally spluttered.  _ You can hear me?! _

“Can I- of course I can- show yourself!”

_ Ah, sorry. I can’t. I don’t think I have my body right now. Are you all patched up? _

“I- no... body? What are you?”

_ I’m not so sure, I don’t know, I-  _ He turned and left teletram 1, presumably to find somebody to hunt me down.  _ Hey, wait- don’t- weren’t you working on the blueprint thing?! That’s important!  _ He froze.

“The- blueprint?”  _ Yeah the spacebridge blueprint Megatron’s gonna use- oh you hadn’t realized it yet have you. Futz I ruined it you were supposed to- I’ve ruined the-  _ He turned back to the screen urgently with new eyes.

“Optimus!”

  
  


The rest of the scene played out as it should, as I did my best not to think too loudly. I failed right at the end, when Optimus announced his suspicions about Megatron raising Cybertron’s dead.  _ Yeah basically.  _ Ratchet stiffened. As the ‘bots drifted away to their tasks, he walayed Optimus.

“There is a creature here that knew about the space bridge,” Optimus seemed simultaneously relieved and concerned.

“Sunny?”  _ Here and accounted for, I guess. _

“You know the creature?!” _Yeah I saved your leaky husk._ I immediately felt bad about seeming mean. “What do you mean you-”

“Ratchet. Calm yourself. Sunny assisted in preventing you from offlining”

“But- they- they just said they have no body!”  _ I actually said I don’t have * _ **_my*_ ** _ body.  _ I put as much mental emphasis as I could on the word ‘my’.  _ I’m stuck in yours. _

“They… walked you to the medbay,” Ratchet seemed shell-shocked.  _ You ok? _

“I- of course not! They- you- knew what Megatron’s plan was! Optimus, they confirmed what you said, that Megatron is going to use our planet’s dead-” Optimus’s gaze sharpened.

“Sunny. How did you know about this.” I panicked. _I- oh crumbsImRuiningTheTimeline I- how do I explain this? Even I don’t understand it ImGoingToRuinEverything no Megatron cannot win NO I- I can’t-_ I broke down. Ratchet winced. 

“Optimus, I- you seem to have broken the creature. The best I understand from their rambling is that they have something to do with time, and they have nothing to do with Megatron. I believe they are… crying?” He seemed very uncomfortable. “It's very loud.”  _ I’mSorryImSorry I-  _ I halted myself and let it settle.  _ I’m sorry. I don’t know what is happening. I- a lot of stuff happened to me. I don’t know what any of it is, though. I… I just want to go home and sleep. _

“Then why don’t you?” he asked quietly.  _ I don’t know how to do either now. I don’t know how to leave your body or if my home exists here. I- I’m sorry for bothering you. I- sorry…  _ Something seemed to occur to him.

“Sunny. How old are you?”  _ I’m fourteen. I’mAkid. I’m sorry.  _

“Optimus.” he hissed. “The creature is a  _ child, _ ”  _ Yeah I- wait something is- _ I slipped back into ‘unconsciousness’ again. 

< _what is- > _

“-what is this?” I woke to a tugging sensation. Ratchet had found some of my fabric and was pulling on it. I yanked it out of his grasp, causing him to recoil.  _ What’s the big idea? Wait what happened. _

“Sunny!” He sounded surprisingly relieved. “You stopped speaking, you worried… Optimus.” _ Aw, you were worried about me?  _ “Optimus was!” _ Mmmkay. Anyways, can you do that thing you were doing before? I could feel that. It was… weird.  _

He obliged, finding another length of cloth he could grasp. He pulled on it again, gently.  _ Huh. lemme just-  _ Following the tugging sensation, I unspooled my fabric, pushing it out through a gap in his back, and making him shiver.  _ Can’t leave that way either, sorry. It was worth a shot.  _

“You- what?” He reached around and grabbed what basically amounted to a cape, that I had just made. “What did you do?”  _ I figured if I put my. Uh. cloth? Outside your body, I could leave. It didn’t work?  _

“What are- you know what, nevermind.” He let go of the cape and went back to examining the wounds Optimus and I had patched. I chilled for a moment.  _ Hey, did you check the one up under your arm? It bled a lot.  _ He shifted focus, twisting to check where I had indicated.

“Optimus indicated that I had lost the majority of my energon. Enough that I should have offlined.” I was quiet for a moment.  _ That would be- bad. You weren’t supposed to- _

“I… Wasn’t supposed to?” I clammed up. “What do you mean I-”  _ ImSorryForgetIt  _ “No!”  _ You have stuff you’re supposed to do! Do that!  _ “Does this have to do with you and time?”  _ I-  _

I was saved by Bulkhead entering the room.  _ OhThankGoodness _ . 

“Hey Doc, I- what are you wearing?” Bulkhead reached over and yanked on my fabric.  _ Ow!  _

Without thinking, I split the cape in half lengthwise, using the half he wasn’t holding to swat away his hand.  _ I- huh. I didn’t know I could do that.  _ I shook out any wrinkles. Then I froze.  _ I can interact with people and the first thing I dO IS HIT AN AUTOBOT wHYYY IM SORRYYY-  _ Ratchet just sighed, pinching the space between his eyes. I wrung the lengths of cloth as if they were hands.

“Bulkhead, meet Sunny, my... stowaway. They apologize. Sunny, meet Bulkhead. Now stop apologizing.”  _ sorry. _

“I, uh, sorry for grabbing you?”  _ It’s okay _

“They said it’s fine.” Ratchet seemed annoyed that he had to translate. I gave a small wave. Bulkhead awkwardly waved back. There was a silence. I let the cape drop.

“Ratchet, what was that?”

“I... do not know what they are. They don’t know, either. I picked them up after battling Megatron’s legion.”

“Is that why you didn’t talk to any of us until Optimus patched you up?”

“I wasn’t awake until Optimus ‘patched me up’.”

“Oh. Then..?”

“Sunny 'walked me in.'”

“That… okayyy.” Bulkhead seemed to surrender the line of conversation, and went back to whatever he had been doing.  _ Sorry Ratchet _

“It’s fine,” He waved away my apology. “At least now I can say you exist without seeming crazy.”  _ Yeahhh that is a concern. How long was I out by the way? _

“Around a day?”  _ I missed everything?! How’s Arcee? You did destroy the space bridge right? _

“How did you- you haven’t even had the opportunity to learn her name! You were unconscious!” 

_ I, uh.  _ I said eloquently.

“You aren’t going to tell me, are you.”  _ Not if I have a choice, no.  _ He sighed again. “She’s… fine.”  _ Alright, thank you. I’ll just… leave you to it then. Without… the leaving part. _

Ratchet finished polishing up the patch job and went about his business. He found Optimus ruminating nearby the computer.

“Optimus! Why so glum?” Optimus turned his head slightly. “This planet- all planets are finally free from Megatron’s tyranny!” I tried to hold back my comment, I really did.  _ No, they aren't, I’m so sorry.  _ Ratchet spluttered, derailing the exchange that was supposed to happen, and making Optimus turn around. 

“Sunny! You- What do you mean?!”  _ He’s not dead,  _ I said miserably,  _ he’s just… floating around out there right now. And Starscream is about to make trouble. He’s declared himself emperor, and is going to hunt down one of Megatron’s warriors. It won’t go well.  _

“I- You- how- Optimus, we must make plans.”  _ sorry.  _ “I will get this out of you later.”  _ Please don’t.  _

Raf’s model volcano chose that moment to explode.

“Decepticons! We’re under attack!”  _ No we aren’t  _ “You- Raf?”

“It’s no attack, Ratchet!” Raf coughed. “It’s my volcano.” He coughed again. “...was.”

“Hold still Bulkhead!” Ratchet turned, “Jupiter needs its red spot.” Miko dipped a brush in one of several cans of paint, and leaned forward to add it to her model. A large drop of paint fell to the floor. “Whoopsy.” 

“What.” started Ratchet, “In the Allspark. Is going  _ on  _ here?!” 

“Our projects are due tomorrow,” explained Jack. Arcee attempted to hand him a motorcycle part. 

“Maybe it needs one of these dohickeys?” Jack took a long look at what she was holding. “...You’re a motorcycle, Arcee. Shouldn’t you know how to build an engine?” 

“ _ You’re a human, Jack. Can you build me a small intestine? _ ” I repeated Arcee’s comeback with glee as she said it, forgetting for a second that Ratchet could hear me. 

“Ah- you can’t work on these projects in here!” Ratchet seemed additionally disgruntled.  _ Whoops.  _ “You’re- you’re making a mess!”

“But the science fair is a big part of our grade!” Raf defended.

“Yeah!” Exclaimed Miko, drawing his attention. “If Bulkhead doesn’t help me finish this model of our solar system-”

“Oh?” Ratchet interrupted, “Ahnd what does Bulkhead know of your solar system? Or Bumblebee of your volcanoes? Or-”

“Arcee of our motorcycles?” Finished Jack. 

“Precisely!” He gestured for a moment “We aren’t Earthlings! And  _ they’re” - _ he indicated the other ‘bots- “not scientists.”

“But the Autobots are their guardians, Ratchet.” Optimus spoke up from behind Ratchet. “Would it hurt to learn more of Earth by helping our young friends with their schoolwork?”

“Well” Ratchet scoffed. “Maybe our  _ young friends _ should learn more of  _ Cybertron.”  _

_ Ratchet. There are more immediate problems. Like Starscream? About to wake up a warrior?  _ Ratchet stiffened, and pulled Optimus aside.  _ No, go to teletram 1, check for stuff that isn’t supposed to be there-  _ Ratchet changed directions quickly. Under his fingers, it beeped.

“Exposed energon! And it’s on the move.”

“And since we ain’t movin’ it,” Bulkhead came up to stand beside him. “Guess who must be.” 

“Decepticons.” Arcee answered, moving next to him.

“Without Megatron?” Miko asked from the raised platform. Ratchet stiffened.

“Unfortunately, Megatron’s legacy will live on.” Optimus stated. “As others rise to take his place…” He paused. “Autobots, you have projects to complete. Ratchet?”  _ We didn’t tell him did we.  _ “I may require aid.” 

“Science fair  _ is  _ a big part of their grade…” mused Ratchet, turning towards Raf’s volcano. “Perhaps I’m better suited to remain behind and- advise!”  _ Mmmkay?  _

“Very well. Bumblebee! Let us see about this energon in transit.” Bee nodded.

As they left, I mentally sighed.  _ He tries to reason with them first.  _ Ratchet nodded tiredly, not bothering to question how I knew this.  _ Also. Ratchet?  _ He stiffened, probably expecting more bad news. I felt guilty.  _ I think the others would be glad to know about Cybertron.  _ He nodded, smug.  _ They should probably do the projects about earth things, though.  _ I could feel his disappointment.  _ They have to give the projects to their teachers after this, and their teachers don’t know Cybertron exists. They wouldn’t be able to explain non-Earth projects. Maybe you could do your own on the side and describe it to them?  _ He seemed to consider this, then nodded.  _ I’ll help?  _ He shrugged slightly, and went to get his own supplies. I can’t believe he listened to me.

  
  


_ I… still think this is overkill.  _ I said, as Ratchet welded another line on the large, metal false-volcano.  _ Are you sure that it won’t damage anything when it goes off? Human buildings are small, and humans are prone to burns and whatnot. Could this be a side project?  _ He sighed. 

“On  _ my _ planet, these would be met with the highest honors.”  _ I know. They’re really cool. You could set it off later, without it being in a building. It would be amazing to watch.  _

He seemed slightly mollified, moving on to a more human-size project that hopefully wouldn’t blast the top off the school. My perception stuttered.  _ Hey Ratchet? I’m fading again. Tell me how it goes?  _

“I- of course.” 

Then I heard Bulkhead speak up, and I was gone. Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope Sunny's jumbled thoughts aren't too hard to read


	4. Scraplets are terrifying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a tad longer than the others.  
> So far, anyway

I ‘woke’ to a minor explosion, and Ratchet swearing by the Allspark.  _ What happened?!  _ I took in the sparking ground bridge controls. _ Oh no. Oh no it’s this. Nooo.  _

“So!” said Miko. “What do you guys think we should do today?”  _ It doesn’t matter, you’re going to end up doing the same thing anyway. _

“Sunny.” Ratchet whispered urgently, facing away from the others. “What are you speaking of?”  _ Oh, just your plans for the rest of the day.  _ “Which are?”  _ Avoid being eaten by scraplets while trying to fix the ground bridge, which has already been gnawed on.  _

“Bulkhead, Bumblebee! Here! Now!”

I stayed silent, watching the scene play out. But this time, they knew about the scraplets immediately. Hopefully that would lower potential damage..?  _ I don’t know how helpful I’ll be.  _ The power went out. Raf destroyed the first scraplet, showing off how scraplets ignored humans.

Everyone gathered around the scraplet trap.  _ If I’d been awake I could have warned you,  _ I lamented. 

The others split up, each Autobot with a human ‘bodyguard’. Ratchet stayed behind to work on the ground bridge.  _ I should have been awake I should have done someth- _ Ratchet slammed his fist into the ground, shutting me up.

“By the Allspark! Do you ever stop apologizing?!” Jack held his hands up in befuddled surrender. Ratchet waved an arm at him.

“Not you.” 

Jack looked around, taking in the absolute lack of anybody else. “I don’t see-” 

I sheepishly raised the right half of the ‘cape’ and waved.

“Jack, Sunny. Sunny, Jack. Now will you _please be quiet?_ ” 

Jack regarded my ‘cape’ in awkward silence. I started to fidget.  _ It’s really hard not to think.  _ Something occurred to me. 

Reaching across to where I was pretty sure the fire extinguisher was, I felt around until I found it. Then I retracted, offering it to Jack. He took it cautiously, regarding me with confusion. Ratchet glanced back at us.

“I don’t know why they did that, but presumably, you need it.” He went back to his work. I stayed silent. 

I could hear the whining, metallic buzzing scraplets make.  _ Ratchet. We have incoming.  _ Since Jack couldn’t hear me, I pointed up where the noise was coming from, trying to gesture urgency. Both of them spun to face the swarm. Jack exclaimed, bringing the fire extinguisher up.

“They fly?! You never said they could fly!”

I swatted a dozen out of the air. This did basically nothing beyond depositing them sharply on the ground.  _ Oh, dust.  _ I kept at it anyway, attempting to at least bring them within Jack’s reach. He, on the other hand, was making good progress with the fire extinguisher. Ratchet writhed on the ground, attempting to pull scraplets off. I could feel where they chewed on him. It burned. I swept a bunch off, but they just kept coming back.  _ This is even more nightmarish in person!  _ I slammed a ‘handful’ into the ground and- they’re gone.  _ Where did?- Not a priority get them OFF-  _ And the first wave finished. The rest of the scraplets flew into the air, gathering into a terrifying swarm. Bulkhead came around the corner.

“Ratchet, get the patchkit. We’re leaking energon like-  _ Waugh! _ ” 

He took a step back, recoiling from the sight. The scraplets changed direction, having noticed the fresh meal. And it was chaos again.

“Eat  _ this! _ ” I heard Bulkhead shout. There was a pause. Then he screamed. At least that part of the timeline wasn’t derailed. It… was much less humorous now, though. I shoved a couple more handfuls of scraplets into oblivion. I’ll find out what that was later. Now wasn’t the time. I continued swiping scraplets out of the air until… I batted at nothing, startling me.  _ It’s over? _

I swept my awareness back over Ratchet, noting the abrasions and rifts in his metal caused by the scraplet… scouts.  _ Great _ . I pulled my fabric back in through where it had been attached, and did my best to wrap his wounds, staunching any energon leakage. The pain from Ratchet’s body lessened.  _ No one is dead, right?  _ Ratchet groaned, sitting up. I could hear Bulkhead and Bee nearby.

“Did we get ‘em all?” Jack shut off the extinguisher, he, Miko, and Raf making  _ sure _ the scraplets were down. The telltale whining buzz echoed from the hallways.  _ Nope. _

“Hardly. These were just scouts.” Ratchet leaned his head back against the wall. 

“That’s not great.” Surprised, I turned my perception. Bee lay back down with a soft ‘crash’. Huh. I can understand him. __

“So the- rest of them know we’re in here?” Bulkhead said fearfully.

“And if we allow ourselves to become their next meal… Optimus and Arcee will never make it home. We MUST get the ground bridge operational.” Ratchet stated.

“Then we could use it to send the scraplets anywhere on earth.” Raf said.

“Why not back to the Arctic?” Jack asked, rhetorically. “We already know they don’t do cold.” He hoisted the fire extinguisher as if to prove his point.

“Sa-weet! One-stop shopping.” Miko smacked her weapon into the palm of her other hand.

“With the body mass of the scraplets, the sub-zero temperatures  _ should  _ freeze them on contact.” Ratchet paused. “So- think, Ratchet, think! If the ground bridge is still down… there must be a breach in the energon fuel line!” 

Bee fell over again with a complaint, this time more dramatically. Clang.

“If we weren’t breaching… One of us could get back over there and fix it.” Bulkhead muttered.

“Where do we find it?” Jack asked. 

“And how do we fix it?” Raf stepped forward, almost defiantly.

  
  


“So if- WHEN we get the ground bridge open,” Started Bulkhead, “Do we send the creepy-crawlies out… or bring our bots in?”

“Optimus and Arcee will be fresh meat.” Ratchet took a breath. “If we bring them in first, the scraplets will have no reason to leave.” He paused for a moment.

“We will need bait.”

“Where’r we gonna get _ bait _ ?” Bulkhead said indignantly, “The scraplets already helped themselves to everything  _ in  _ here!”

_ Ratchet. Incoming.  _ Ratchet rolled flat, pushing down Bee as the scraplets burst from multiple points in the ceiling. 

“Ratchet! All systems go!” Yelled Jack, running in,

“Fire it up!” Yelled Miko, close behind.

“Ground bridge-” gasped Ratchet, hauling himself off the floor and weakly pulling down both levels, “-activate.” he finished, falling forward. 

I unspooled a length, catching him from the front, and preventing him from falling on his face. Or at least I attempted to do so. Instead, I brought his hands down in front of him. I lay there for a moment, stunned.  _ Ratchet, buddy, you awake?  _ He didn’t reply.  _ Crumbs. _

“Bait, huh.” I could distantly hear Bulkhead say. “Ready for the main course?!” he yelled at the cloud of metal piranha. I could hear him start running. I rolled over, pushing Bee down again, covering his and Ratchet’s bodies with a sheet of fabric to camouflage them from the scraplets. The buzzing, whining swarm followed after Bulkhead.  _ Yesss.  _ Bee was now looking at me in confusion.  _ Nooo.  _ It was at this point I realized that basically everyone needed medical aid and I was possessing their medic.  _ Oh gods no I’m in trouble, Optimus- needs aid too. Aughhh!  _

I got up and hurried into the ground bridge. I was just in time to help Bulkhead up from the snow. 

“Ratchet! Aren’t you injured? You had trouble just activating the ground bridge!”

“Yes and no.” I grimaced. “It’s me, Sunny. I’ll explain later.” I helped Optimus stand.

“Sunny, how is Ratchet?” I lifted him higher.

“Not great! He passed out after getting up and pulling the lever.” I pulled Arcee to her feet, ignoring her baffled expression. “Optimus, everyone needs medical, and I don’t know how to do that!  _ Or _ wake him up.” 

“That… is a problem.” he agreed. I started to half pull him into the ground bridge.

  
  


It was an utter mess inside. I hadn’t quite gotten to appreciate the sheer scale of the damage before. I extended a length to sweep scraplets out of tripping range, making a beeline to the medical area.  _ I have no clue what any of these are, but that’s the thing Optimus used when RatchetMe was bleeding out, and that over there has the weird tubes I saw in the- this- episode.  _ I turned around and pushed it at Optimus.

“Please tell me you know how to use this?” I quietly pleaded. Optimus dipped his head.

“Ratchet has much greater medical knowledge than I.” I drooped slightly. “Though I can indeed accomplish basic defrosting procedure.”  _ OhThankGoodness.  _ I looked at the patching tool in Ratchet’s other hand, considering. 

“Uh, Optimus, how much expertise is required to operate one of these?” He sighed and took that from me, too. “Yeah, sorry…”

  
  


I ended up just fidgeting in the corner. I couldn’t remember any of Ratchet’s voicelines or use any of the tools, and I gauged I wasn’t in enough pain that Ratchet was in danger. So Optimus handled it. And I felt utterly useless.

Arcee analyzed me from nearby, where she had been set up with a monitor. This was presumably due to her relative mass to Optimus making it more likely she had cold-induced system damage. I ran Ratchet’s hand over one of his weird helmet-crest things, and sighed. Man, was my anxiety kicking my ass. I stole a glance at Arcee, briefly making eye contact. Her eyes narrowed. I looked away again. Hopefully  _ she  _ didn’t kick my (Ratchet’s?) ass.

Someone tapped on Ratchet’s arm, causing me to jump. Holding his arms close to his body, I turned.

“So, who and what are you, anyway.” Arcee asked crossly, staring me square in the eye. 

“I- ah- I-I’m Sunny?” I stuttered, flustered.

“That sounded like a question.” she gave me a look.

“My name is Sunny, and I, um. I don’t know what I am..?” I tried to avoid her gaze, which proved basically impossible if I didn’t want to be rude. “This is Ratchet’s body, though. I think he’s sleeping? He passed out earlier-” She raised an eyebrow. I held up Ratchet’s hands in front of me in surrender. “Listen! I would leave, but I don’t know how! I’ve been here for like a week!” Something in my expression seemed to convince her. She hummed as she turned around to leave.

I sat down heavily, exhaustion hitting me suddenly. 

“Hey, wait, Arcee.” She turned back. “I’m pretty sure I’m about to pass out, too. Can you make sure Ratchet’s okay?” Arcee nodded, an expression of concern briefly crossing her face. She started to say something, but I gently tipped over backwards, already drifting-  _ This is getting really annoy- _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry


	5. Magical Narcolepsy and other annoyances

< _ why- _ >

“-mine as much energon as quickly as he can… from the planet’s otherwise unmineable energon deposits.” I caught Optimus’s voice. “Approach with  _ extreme _ caution. Starscream will not hesitate to turn the harvester on any one of us.” I mentally tracked events. “Bulkhead. It is best that you remain here.” 

“So I can bust Miko outta the museum?” 

“So you can help Ratchet.” Bulkhead’s face fell. “You may be Miko’s guardian, but she requires human assistance. Agent Fowler remains our best option.”

Optimus transformed and left. Fowler’s voicemail message played from Raf’s computer. :: “You’ve reached special agent William Fowler. I’m currently on an intensive training retreat and unavailable until tuesday.”:: 

“Still no answer…” Raf shook his head. 

“Fowler’s lounging around some poolside cabana.” Bulkhead growled, raising his fist. I reached out, lightning quick, and managed to scoop everything off the table before he smashed it.  _ Yes! _

“Bulkhead! I needed-” Ratchet trailed off. I held up the implements, proud of myself. Bulkhead paused for only a second, then continued his tangent.

“We could free Miko. If we could just return that harvester to the museum!”

“So that the Decepticons can steal it all over again?” Ratchet asked skeptically. Bulkhead broke eye contact first. He shook his head. 

“-I am so dumb!” He raised his hands to the sides of his head in distress.

“-So, how are we going to help Miko?” Jack cut in.

“By returning this  _ replica  _ to the museum.” Ratchet gestured with said unfinished item. “Which would have gone  _ much  _ slower if Bulkhead had  _ destroyed my frame welder! _ ” I held up my handful of tools again as Ratchet glared at Bulkhead. 

“We’re already trespassers and thieves,” said Jack, “why not add forgery to the list.” 

“I wish I hadn’t taken Miko to th’- The painting of the harvester wasn’t the _ only _ thing we found in those ruins!” Bulkhead realized. 

“I’m sorry?” Ratchet squinted at him.

“Starscream’s not dumb.” he clarified, “no matter what kinda tool he has, he’s gonna take the  _ easy  _ route.”  _ Correct! Now hurry hurry. To Greece again! _

As soon as Ratchet sent Bulkhead through, I spoke up again.  _ After you send the others after him… Can we talk? _

  
  
  


Much later, after the energon harvester had been destroyed, Bulkhead patched up, and the others gone to respective tasks, Ratchet was alone. Y’know. Other than me. 

_ Sooo… Ratchet. _

“Yes?”  _ Have you tried to scan me yet? _

“Of course I have-”  _ Find anything? _ He deflated. 

“Other than abnormal energy readings, no.”  _ Oh jeez, I’m not hurting you am I?!  _

“I don’t believe so.”  _ OhThankGoodness. Anyways, you noticed I keep going to sleep? _

“Yes. This latest cycle seemed… longer than previous.”  _ Yeahhh… I… don’t think I’m supposed to. It… it feels like an emergency measure keeps getting pulled. I don’t know what I am, but I don’t think this is a good thing.  _ He stiffened in alarm.  _ Oh crumbs, now I’ve gotten to compare it- the gaps keep getting longer- half a day, most of a day, full days- a week- no. no, AmIDying? IDon’tWantToDie nonono no-  _

“Sunny! Calm down!” I stuttered to a halt.  _ ‘mSorry- Im sorry.  _ “We’ll figure this out.”  _ Tests. TrialAn’Error. Okay. It’s fine. WhenCanWeStart... please? _

  
  


“Test log: electricity test one. Are you ready, Sunny?”  _ Do it.  _ Ratchet held a device to one of my lengths of cloth. He clicked it on.

_ AAAAAAAAAAIDontThinkItsWorking-  _ my fabric yanked out of his hand as he turned off the device. There was a pause. The length then burst into flames. 

_ nope Nope noPE NOPE!  _ I whacked it against the floor bunch of times and then held it there, letting the blue-tinted fire smother. 

_ Well.  _ A line of smoke escaped from underneath.  _ That was a very spectacular failure.  _ He sighed. I agreed wholeheartedly. Lifting my ‘appendage’ off the ground- you know what? I’m just going to call them my left and right swath, or hand, or length, or something, this is getting ridiculous. 

There was a conspicuous lack of scorch marks on my bright white fabric.  _ Huh.  _ I turned it this way and that.  _ I seem to be spotless.  _ Ratchet caught it for a closer look. He hummed, thinking.

“You’re right. What fueled that reaction?” he tugged at my hand absentmindedly, seeming lost in thought. I tugged back, getting his attention, something occurring to me.  _ Ratchet, you’re running on energon. What am I running on?  _ His eyes widened.  _ Wanna find out? _

  
  


Viscous, brightly glowing blue fluid leaked from a tiny cut in the edge of my hand. Ratchet carefully collected it in a vial.  _ I don’t really get how I’m bleeding from there. Isn’t it too thin to support any kind of circulation? Then again, nothing about this makes sense.  _

“I don’t believe that this is energon.” Ratchet held the vial up to the light. “Energon does not glow in liquid form. It is also thinner.” He tilted it, watching it ooze slowly. “This substance is new to me.” He placed a drop of it on a glass plate, and inserted it into a machine.  _ Uh, Ratchet.  _

“Hmm?”  _ I’m still dripping.  _ I held my other hand underneath, catching the drops.  _ Do you… need any more? Or-  _ He hastily reached for a tool in his vicinity, hesitated, then picked up a relatively clean rag. I took it and pressed it to the cut. 

Ratchet prepared another small plate of my blood.  _ What are you doing with that one?  _

“Checking something,” He retrieved a small container of energon. Tipping it, he added a drop to my sample.

  
  


Coughing, he stepped back from the table, waving the vapor away. We stared at the plate in silence.  _ Ha… Ahahaha.. eheheheHEHEHEHEhhh-  _ I started sobbing. Ratchet slowly shook his head, not looking away from where the reaction occurred. On the plate, glowing slightly, was the drop of energon. And nothing else.  _ Ratchet, Ratchet I- say something, please, I- oh. Ratchet. I’m. I’m fading again. I- please don’t blame yourself? _

< _ pAiN- _ >

I was being pulled on- wrenched. There was a tearing sensation.  _ What’sHappeningWhatIs-  _ I was being torn out of Ratchet’s body. I was on the Decepticon battleship.  _ Oh no. Oh no, Ratchet-  _ If I didn’t let go I was going to  **hurt** him..!  _ Ratchet. If I- Ratchet, theres a happy ending, ok? I- I..!  _ I felt something rip.  _...Goodbye. _

I let everything go. With a vertigo-inducing motion, I was discarded on the metal floor. Bee- currently being possessed by Megatron’s mind due to a series of events I had evidently missed- finished by throwing Ratchet into a wall. He collapsed.

“Bumblebee!” Raf pleaded.

“Bumblebee can’t _ hear _ you anymore.” growled Megatron-Bee

“As much as I want you to leave Bumblebee’s body,” Raf started running. “I can’t let you go back to your own!” He threw himself onto the whatever-it’s-called patch, the cord that connected Bee’s brain to Megatron’s.  _ O _ **_h, do for_ ** _ give my for _ **_getfulnes_ ** _ s, I’m laying on the ground bl _ **_eedin_ ** _ g out.  _

_ H _ **_eh. hullo fourth wall. I’_ ** _ m  _ **_in a stor_ ** _ y. _

The cord twisted, swinging Raf violently back and forth before throwing him off. He landed with a grunt. 

Satisfied, Megatron-Bee turned and plunged a spike of dark energon into his comatose body. Megatron, no longer controlling Bee, shuddered and lunged upright with a gasp. 

Bee stumbled and shook his head, taking in his surroundings. 

Megatron stepped down from the platform. Bee, Raf, and Ratchet backed away, terrified.

I  _ c _ a _ n’ _ t _ d _ **o** **_a_ ** **n** **_y_ ** **t** **_h_ ** **i** **_n_ ** **g-**

The Vehicons arrived.

**_but then, i_ ** **t** **_’s a story, i_ ** s _ n _ **’t** **_i_ ** t **_?_ **

“Decepticons!” Megatron thundered, “your rightful lord and master has returned.” He started walking purposefully, pausing only briefly by Bumblebee. “Take care of these pests. I have my own extermination to perform.”

The Vehicons closed ranks behind him, opening fire.

**_I could n_** **e** ** _v_** **e** ** _r d_** **o** **a** ** _n_** **y** ** _t_** **h** ** _i_** **n** ** _g._**

The others scattered, dodging and returning shots. With every firing and impact, I curled tighter in on myself. The sounds almost seemed to hurt.

**_The storyline w_** **o** ** _u_** **l** ** _dn’t_** **a** ** _l_** **l** ** _o_** **w** **i** ** _t._**

The others escaped the room. They’d meet up with the ground team. They would be fine.

**_B_ ** **ut th** **_i_ ** **s?**

I raised myself off the ground, choking back hysterical laughter.

  
**“This part has** **_n_ ** **o** **_i_ ** **mpact on the plot** **_w_ ** **ha** **_t_ ** **so** **_ev_ ** **er!”**


	6. Getting Starscream in trouble

I came back to myself in the Decepticon medbay. Or, what used to be the medbay. 

All the medical equipment was gone. The Vehicons were gone. The ground was inches deep in fine, metallic confetti. I turned my head. The walls were shredded. I ran a hand over a breach in the metal so deep that I could see light from the neighboring room. 

_ Did… did I pass out again? Is Ratchet okay? What happened here? _

I heard footsteps approaching in the hallway. Thinking quickly, I squeezed myself into an extra large wall rift. 

“What the scrap happened here?!” Knockout cried, gesturing helplessly at the destruction. “All my equipment! Gone!” Breakdown patted his shoulder, awkwardly.

I wiggled, and with a metaphorical ‘pop’, I made it into the room next door. It was so untouched it was almost creepy. I did one last fruitless sweep of the surroundings. Then I left. 

  
  


_Haha, my sense of direction is trash!_ What felt like days later, I stared at the dead end I was pretty sure I had passed several times already. I knew the _Nemesis_ was enormous, but it hadn’t really registered through a screen. It was made much, much worse by the fact I was small again. That is to say, a normal human height compared to that of a cybertronian. On a ship made for many, many cybertronians. _Crumbs._

I really should have expected to stumble upon a Decepticon patrol. They probably have to check their halls for the bots all the time at this point. I ducked back behind the corner. One of them said something to the other, starting in my direction. I started running.

I ducked into a room. I could hear the Vehicons pass by.  _ That was close. Insanely, dangerously close.  _ I peeked around the edge of the door, watching the patrol turn the corner out of sight. I relaxed. Something picked me up from behind.

Soundwave held me up to his faceplate, rotating me slightly. I went limp, staring at the floor far, so far below me, and latched onto his fingers. It hadn’t been as bad when I was Rachet- sized, but now- _... _ I snapped my gaze away, tightening my grip and facing Soundwave’s scrutiny. It was better than looking down just now. I shivered.

  
  


Soundwave visited the medbay only briefly. Taking in the barely touched destruction for a moment, he turned around and left, still holding me. He passed Starscream, who looked the worse for wear. 

“Soundwave!” Soundwave turned and looked impassively at him. Not that hard when you have no face. 

“Oh, you’ve found another mini-con to add to your collection.” Starscream loomed over me, a sneer on his face. I leaned away, grasping Soundwave’s hand yet tighter. He was barely holding me at this point. “I’ve never seen one so… insignificant.”

“Irrelevant.” Starscream stood back upright. “Soundwave. I need you to open a ground bridge.”

  
  


As Starscream left, I finally placed events. Shadowzone. I really had been wandering for days. I felt a rush of victory. I was still alive. I hadn’t succumbed to unconsciousness a final, crucial time. I survived. I relaxed a hair, still clinging to Soundwave’s hand like a frightened koala. 

Soundwave left the ground bridge room, gesturing for a Vehicon to monitor the controls. As he walked, he brought me up to his face again. He tilted his head, as if considering something. I tilted my head right back at him. Seeming to come to a conclusion, he entered the room he had caught me in. It was the room with his computer. I’m an idiot.

He attempted to set me down on the top of the keyboard. I didn’t react. After a pause, he gently pried my fingers off his hand. I dropped a couple inches onto the surface, and sat, not looking at the edges of the platform. He regarded me for a moment, and, when I made no motion to run, went back to work.

I leaned against the monitor stand. I wasn’t bored, per say, but nothing had happened for a while, and I understood exactly none of what Soundwave was working on, so I had stopped watching. Also, I wasn’t too fond of the idea of finding my own way down. I put my faceplate to my knees, mimicking a sigh. What would Starscream be doing right now?

Soundwave stopped working. I looked up. He was staring at the screen. I followed his gaze. It was displaying… a picture of Starscream, as from my memory of this episode.  _ Did I do that?  _ I mentally scrolled through different scenes. The monitor followed. I stopped on the scene where Starscream attempts to raise his own revenant.

:: “Rise, Skyquake!”:: Screen-Starscream cried, gesturing dramatically, ::“RISE!”::

Soundwave leaned forward slightly, glancing at me. I switched scenes, grabbing the base of the monitor.

::“Starscream.”:: Screen-Optimus said, drawing his arm-gun. 

:: “Autobots?!”:: Screen-Starscream whirled around. 

:: “Stand down.”:: S. Optimus aimed his gun at him.

I skipped forward a little.

:: “You cannot harm me while dark energon flows through my veins!”:: S. Starscream gloated, his eyes pulsing purple for a moment. S.Optimus fired once, blowing S. Starscream’s arm off. It clattered to the ground a fair distance away. He gaped at it.

I paused for a second on S. Starscream’s confused, alarmed face, then skipped again.

:: “-requesting emergency groundbridge to my coordinates.”:: S. Starscream said.

I skipped one last time.

S.Starscream crashed out of the ground bridge. He looked around wildly. 

:: “-My arm!”:: 

The Vehicon operating the groundbridge stared at him in silence. S.Starscream stalked up to them. 

:: “Not a word about this.”:: snapped S.Starscream, lunging forward and jabbing them with one of his remaining fingers. He turned away, then back again. ::“to anyone!”:: He gestured wildly with his one arm. Then he slunk away.

S.Starscream paused in the hallway. Then he tore his shard of dark energon out of his chest, looking at it with dismayed disappointment.

I let go of the monitor. It returned to Soundwave’s work. He looked at me, unmoving.  _...Why exactly did I show him that? And how?  _ He suddenly reached out and scooped me up. Then he brought his hand to his collar, depositing me in a nook on top of where Lazerbeak was attached to his chest, before I could cling to him again. I grabbed one of Lazerbeak’s wings in a death grip. Then, he turned and started walking.

  
  


We arrived in what seemed to be a secondary, hastily set up medbay. Starscream lay on the examination table, complaining at Knockout.

“-there I am, minding my own business, when my arm just- falls- off!-” he cut himself off, noticing Soundwave. He froze.

I looked up. Soundwave was displaying the scene where his arm gets blasted off. On loop. There was a silence.

“When did you record that?!-” Starscream stopped himself, too late, slowly turning to see the glare that Knockout was giving him.

“Just minding your own business, huh.”

“I-! I don’t have to answer to you!-”

Soundwave turned and left, ignoring the ensuing argument. He reached up to where I was lodged, and- patted me on the head. This- is probably a good thing? Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will likely get more done around thanksgiving


	7. Timeline now under observation

“Lord Megatron. I fear Breakdown has gone missing.” Soundwave turned toward Starscream, who had entered the bridge. I was still nestled in the same spot on Soundwave’s person, having deemed it ‘probably the safest place I could possibly be on the entire ship’,  _ despite _ how high up it was.

“The Autobots?” Megatron turned his head slightly, not looking away from the view.

“According to the surveillance provided by the astonishingly accurate Soundwave,” Starscream gestured at Soundwave, who turned back to his work. “Breakdown was abducted by humans.”

“Your point?” Megatron didn’t even move.

“My strongest recommendation- we assemble a rescue team to hunt the vermin responsible for this outrage.” Starscream leaned back, confident his ‘advice’ would be followed. 

“Breakdown is on his own.”

Starscream spluttered, taken aback. “-Master?”

“If Breakdown allowed himself to be captured by those smaller than him- weaker than him-” Megatron continued, “He deserves whatever fate awaits him.”

“But- Breakdown is a key player in our-” Megatron turned towards him, making him cringe and stop speaking. “Your… wisdom rages supreme, Lord Megatron.” he turned and started walking away. 

I telegraphed the following statement to Soundwave through a small, still-really-big-to-a-human screen that he had found for me. ::“... for now.”:: Soundwave nodded once, well acquainted with Starscream’s malignant tendencies. 

I had shown him a few more scenes- selectively. None of the inside of the Autobot base, none of the humans’ involvement, none that could contain any sensitive information, or inkling of a location, and none from future events. I didn’t want him to find out anything about the Autobots he wouldn’t already know... Starscream was fair game, though, and I wouldn't be upset if I could make his life more difficult.

Breakdown, on the other hand… as much damage as the guy does, his eventual fate is  _ br _ **_uta_ ** _ l _ . I’ll… b **end the ru** les for this one. This is probably going to come back to bite me. 

I waited until Soundwave was back at his own computer. I reached up and tapped him on the collar, pointing to his monitor. He lifted me from my spot, placing me near the base. I grabbed it, starting to replay.

  
  


The area Breakdown wakes up in has a screen on one wall, and a number of tools suspended above him. He’s strapped down. Silas and other members of MECH- (A short statement appeared on the screen detailing, in short, what I knew about them. Huh, cool.)- enter, and begin to tell Breakdown exactly what they will do to him.

-skip-

They very, very slowly lower the drill.

I skip again to try to avoid the scream of pain- and the screen freezes.  _ What? _

:: _ Showing of future events may damage the integrity of this timeline. Continue? _ ::  _ WHAT??? _

I hastily let go of the screen, backing up.  _ ThatsMyVoice why is it my voice WasAWarning-ICan’tD _ **_oAnyt_ ** _ hing?? But Breakdown-  _ I paced once in a sad little lopsided circle, then dropped my head in my hands and screamed in frustration.

The resounding  _ SCREECH _ echoed around Soundwave’s room. 

I jumped, startled.  _ That was me?!  _

Soundwave almost took a step back. I suddenly remembered he was there.  _ Well, nuts.  _

He regarded me with what I could only assume was curiosity. Neither of us has facial features. _ I wonder what he’s thinking?? The… whatever-that-was, dropped the ‘future-knowledge’ thing. I can’t think of anything to do about this- I want to scream again- what do I do?  _ I stared back at him, standing almost limply.

A Vehicon peeked around the doorway. “Sir?” 

Soundwave waved them away, picking me up again. (Why couldn’t everything just be smaller? Why?) He deposited me in the spot on Lazerbeak, and started walking.

  
  
  


We entered the main bridge. Soundwave approached Megatron. I huddled as small as I could behind Lazerbeak’s wings. Megatron turned.

“What is it, Soundwave?” Soundwave plucked me from my hiding spot. I flailed briefly. 

“:: _ Showing of future events-:: _ ” He played back the snippet of the Warning, showing me to Megatron. I clung to his fingers, shivering. I would rather be literally anywhere else.

Megatron loomed overhead, considering me. I curled in on myself.

“This... minicon... has this skill?” Soundwave nodded, once.

“ _ ::-may damage the integrity of this timeline.-:: _ ” Megatron paused, regarding us.

“Show me.” Soundwave paused, then attempted to place me near one of the monitors. I did not let go of his hand. He scraped me off, a bit rougher than last time. I stood, looking from him to the monitor and back, wringing my hands.  _ This is bad _ . He gestured to get on with it, inclining his head ever-so-slightly towards Megatron.  _ Right _ . I reached over, and grabbed on to the edge of the screen.  _ What in the- the PIT- am I supposed to show him??? _

The screen displayed nothing for a moment, then flickered through images, as I frantically scrolled through my show memory. Wait- MECH. I could show him MECH. I stopped scrolling, fixing a picture on-screen, and put up as much as I could about them. Any ‘future’ info appeared as scrolling characters. Nuts.

Megatron leaned in close, making me almost let go. “Decode those.” he shifted his gaze downwards, at me. “Now.” I shuddered, and tried. The screen flashed.

:: _ Showing of future events may damage the integrity of this timeline. Continue? _ :: 

I hesitated, torn. Show skill to Megatron, or risk getting destroyed?  _ Yes..? _

:: _ Are you sure? Current end result is optimal. _ :: 

_ I know! I know, creepy me-voice! No options, here! _

:: **_..._ ** :: 

There was a pause. Megatron narrowed his eyes at me. Soundwave now seemed unsure.

:: _ Soft-lock. M _ **_ajor spoilers ban_ ** _ ned. _ :: 

_ Dang- really?! _

:: _ Pos _ **_sible bad-en_ ** _ ds t _ **_o be avoided._ ** :: The screen went dark, a pair of downturned arcs appearing. The eyes opened, the right(left) one solid blue, the other showing an ‘iris’ on black. They blinked, and focused on Megatron. 

:: **_Meddling to be inspected_ ** _. _ :: The eyes narrowed at him, looking almost angry. He took a step back.

:: **_Timeline now under strict observation._ ** :: The eyes shifted to me, standing at the edge of the screen, seeming to stare straight into my soul.

:: **_C_ ** **a** **_r_ ** **e** **_f_ ** **u** **_l, watcher._ ** **Fragile** **_._ ** :: They blinked closed, revealing the ‘decoded’ entries. I was barely gripping the monitor, shaking like a leaf, my thoughts an absolute mess.  _ DszgGsv?!?! _

  
  


There was a blessed silence, and I got my mind back under control. The ‘Cons read the entries without speaking. Soundwave then plucked me off the desktop in a smooth motion, depositing me on his person again. The computer went back to whatever it had been doing. I curled into a ball, shivering worse. Soundwave put a hand up to prevent me from falling.


	8. More questions than answers

Soundwave placed me gently on the floor. He had eventually figured out that I was terrified of heights. My going completely limp every time he lifted me up was probably a pretty good clue. I stood expectantly, ready to follow him around. 

It’s not like I have any better ideas. He’s probably the only one on the ship that is unlikely to smoosh me. 

We walked to his computer room. I sat quietly at the base of the console, and fidgeted. With nothing else to do, and no (irrational) fears to distract me, I finally had a chance to sit and think. Come to think of it, I hadn’t really gotten to since this whole thing started.

_ So how did I get into this situation… Let’s see, woke up a scrapheap, weird lab/warehouse place- MECH goons. How did I miss they were MECH goons?! They walked right by me... I analyzed what they were wearing, for goodness sake! I’ve practically memorized half the show! _

I mimed a deep breath. Even if I couldn’t actually, it still felt comforting.

_ Alright. So, MECH. Why was I there? I didn’t see anything portal-like-- THE HOLE IN THE COMPUTER. Obviously fresh, didn’t find anything that could have caused it-  _

_ I did it, _ I realized, leaning my head back. 

_ That must’ve been where the scraps came from. I straight-up annihilated one of MECH’s special big computers. Stars, they must be mad. Heh. _

I ran a hand over my horns again. It was starting to be a nervous tic.

_ What even am I? I don’t eat, or sleep, or breathe, and my blood is glowy blue goop. My entire face is just. a mask. I seem to be made entirely up of cloth and metal. Currently mostly metal on the outside, which is lucky in this situation, I guess. I’m obviously not compatible with energon, and can possess people, which is very, very creepy. Oddeyes McVoicestealer showed up when I tried to ‘show’ future events to people, and called me ‘watcher’. Is this because I watched Transformers: Prime?  _

I paused.

_ Wait, what are *they*? Why do they sound like me? How can they ‘observe the timeline’? How did they “softlock” me? I mean, understandable, I was showing Decepticons stuff- but HOW??? The connotations-  _

I yanked hard at one of my horns, purposely derailing myself. No, Sunny. Do not freak out on the Decepticon warship (again). Bad idea. Stop.

_ I need some air; I need to move.  _

I stood abruptly, and walked to the door. I hesitated, looking back at Soundwave.  _ Hey, uh, I’m going for a walk? _

He didn’t respond.  _ Soundwave? Can you hear me?  _ Nothing. Come to think of it, he hasn’t reacted to any of my... talking to myself, either...  _ Soundwave?  _ Am I inaudible? I know he’s not deaf. He’s the flipping spymaster. I’ve seen people talk to him all the time, including in the show, which would have mentioned it.

I rapped sharply on the doorframe. He turned to look at me. Inaudible it is, then.  _ Dust.  _ I stepped outside the door, still looking at him, and tilted my head as a query. After a long moment, he nodded, and went back to his work.  _ Alrighty.  _ He probably had some way to keep an eye on me. Optic. Whatever.

  
  
  


Tap, tap, tap, tap. My comparatively tiny footsteps echoed in the halls. Come to think of it, have I ever seen a residential area on this ship? Where are all the ‘cons, that everything is so empty? Energon mines? Scouting missions??

I realized belatedly that I had arrived at the old medbay. I stopped.  _ This place wasn’t destroyed in the show. I don’t think there’s anything in the show that could produce this result. _

I tapped two fingers on my mask, thinking.  _ It can’t be Arachnid or the Insecticons, that hasn’t happened yet… Decepticons wouldn’t destroy their own medbay…  _

_ I woke up here. It happened between Megatron coming back, and the battle ending. What did I miss? They haven’t even tried to clean it up, it’s been a week…  _

_ I was unconscious. There isn’t anything left of anything else in here. Why was I spared?  _

I walked into the room, feet crunching on the bits of metal. I did a slow 360 degree turn, taking it all in.  _ Even the ceiling is wrecked.  _ The cables and whatnot that were visible in the show were just. gone. I bent down to take a better look at the debris. Picking a piece up, I turned it this way and that. The edges were cut astonishingly cleanly, shining brightly as a mirror whenever they caught the light.  _ I can’t think of anything that could have done this. _

I went to pick another piece up. This one had a short stub of wires poking out the back, cut as unnaturally cleanly as the first piece. I turned it over. Then I dropped it, choking back a screech.  _ That was an eye-  _ I stumbled to my feet and scrambled out of the room, ignoring how the bits sliced against my feet.  _ NoPE- _

I ran smack into a leg. Looking up from my new place on the floor, I recognized Knockout. He stepped away, analyzing where I had careened into him. I presumably hadn’t scratched his paint, because he turned back to me after a moment.

“Come to see what remains of my finishing tools?” I sat up and tilted my head at him.  _ Can you hear me? _

There was a long pause.

“Right. You’re as talkative as Soundwave.” He shook his head at himself.  _ Crumbs. _

Before he could wander off, I took my cybertronian datapad off it’s spot on my back, and focused on trying to get text to pop up. 

[ _ Do you know what happened here? _ ]  _ Oh thank goodness, that worked. _

He hesitated, seemingly astonished that I had answered. 

“No. If anyone does, it’s Soundwave.” 

I considered that, then shook my head.  _ He tried to bring me here when he found me. So probably not. Which means there was likely no footage. _

[ _ Alright, thank you. _ ] Knockout seemed even more taken aback. 

[ _ Is everything okay? _ ] He shook his head, seeming to dismiss something.

“You are one strange mini-con.” I stood there, confused.

[ _ Thanks? _ ] 

He leaned to the side, seeming to notice something. I turned. There was a trail of glowing blue dots leading here from the room. I hastily checked my feet. They were covered in cuts from my quick exit.  _ Oh, crumbs.  _ I hadn’t even noticed. Those pieces of metal must be insanely sharp.  _ I should be more careful… when I flee in panic? Really? Make better promises. _

  
I looked up into Knockout’s intrigued face.  _ Such as: don’t get dissected. _

**Author's Note:**

> As this is my first and currently only fic,  
> any feedback you care to provide would be very helpful!
> 
> You don't have to say anything fancy,  
> but a simple, "this is good!" goes a long way


End file.
